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K – Drama Review: Cheer Up! Episode 12

Hello Dramatics! Sadly this is our last Cheer Up! Episode. I am very sad this has to come to an end. So without further adieu lets recap this final episode.

When we last left off Kim Yeol had confronted Ha Joon about quitting the cheerleading team, accusing him of quitting because of Yeon Doo. Ha Joon lies and says that he’s right. Even though he likes Yeon Doo he’s only quitting to save the cheerleading team from his father.

After his talk with Kim Yeol, Ha Joon gets mad and punches a mirror. Yeon Doo finds him and is concerned about his hand, which just makes things more difficult for Ha Joon. He keeps trying to forget her, but she keeps being kind to him. Kim Yeol can’t stand things being weird between him and Ha Joon so the next day he goes and finds him and tells him that he’s just as important to him as Yeon Doo is and Ha Joon tells her that he’ll get over Yeon Doo.

Soo A’s mom comes to visit her at school and Soo A tells her things are going well in her life and to stay out of it. But her mom was there to see the principal as the two of them both are under investigation by the Board Of Education. The other moms teamed up against them and verified that they were stacking specs. As a result, the Board Of Education decides to disband the cheer team. They find out about this by an announcement posted in the common room. Coach Nam and Teacher Yang are furious. They go to the principal’s office to beg her to save the cheer club only to learn she’s been fired and the Assistant Principal has become the Interim Principal.

Because the cheerleading team is being disbanded, it also means that the Coach Nam has been fired as well. The cheer team is sad to see her go. Through the time they spent together, it was her that turned them from a bunch of foes to a group of friends, but she leaves with a smile on her face and tells them how proud of them she is. Ha Joon finds out that even though he quit the cheer club, they were still disbanded and he is furious with his dad. He goes to confront his dad, but his dad just scoffs at him and tells him that it was for his own good. Yeon Doo knows that everyone expects her to have the right answer, but she doesn’t. She’s followed her heart up until this point, but there is no clear path for their group to take this time. The group all discuss how even though they were forced to do cheerleading at first, they grew to love it and more importantly each other. They still want to do the cheer competition, but know that they would be risking getting in a lot of trouble if they did.

As always Teacher Yang offers some wise advice to his students, knowing how much distress they’re going through.

To prevent Ha Joon from causing trouble, his dad has locked him in his room at home. Kim Yeol goes to check on Ha Joon and can tell that something strange is going on. Kim Yeol does not believe this so he goes and talks to Ha Joon’s dad about being mean to his son. Yeon Doo feels a little down and it’s Soo A who takes notice and takes the time to talk to her and encourage her. She tells Yeon Doo not to give up and tells her that she’ll help her with whatever decision she makes.

The next day Yeon Doo assembles the cheer team and tells them that she can’t make the decision for them as to whether they want to compete or not. She announces that she will be at the competition a half an hour early waiting and whoever shows up will go on stage and perform. But tells them to not judge the others if they don’t show up; everyone should make their own choice and respect the others’. The thing is, if even one person doesn’t show up, they can’t perform.

Worried about Ha Joon and not wanting him to be left out, Yeon Doo and Kim Yeol go and retrieve him from his apartment where he’s locked in. They pull the fire alarm and the maid has no choice but to let him out. They run away, but his father finds out and is there waiting when they get to the auditorium where the competition is held. Ha Joon stands up to his father telling him that he’s going to compete whether he likes it or not. His father tries to hit him, but Ha Joon stops him. Ha Joon tells his father that he made him feel worthless and hate himself, but he’s not going to let that happen anymore. That he’s not going to hate himself because of his father and rather is going to start loving himself.

When Yeon Doo gets to the auditorium a minute after she said she was going to be there, she’s disappointed that no one is there. Then they all come running in. Because she was late they thought she wasn’t coming and ran around looking for her. They go to register only to find out that their registration was cancelled and therefore it’s too late. We think they’re out of luck until Coach Nam shows up, somehow knowing her students would be there. She gets on her knees and begs the officials to let them compete, which he seems to agree after enough begging.

It doesn’t take long for the cheerleading team to realize that they are far from the best team there. There are teams that are professional level and have been competing for a long time, but it doesn’t bother them when they remember that they came to have fun as a team.

They get up to perform and the sneering and whispers from the crowd are audible even on stage after their spec-stacking scandal. But Teacher Yang who is in the crowd cheers them on at the top of their lungs and they’re visibly encouraged. They give their performance their all and put all of their heart into it and end their performance with their signature signs.

Later, when the cheer team is back at school we find out that they got last place. They may have lost the competition, but what they won so much more. Ha Joon confesses to Yeon Doo that he does like her because she noticed and cared for him when he needed it, but that he doesn’t want anything from her and that she doesn’t have to feel bad because he’s grateful to have her in his life. If it wasn’t enough that things remained cool between Ha Joon and Yeon Doo, things with Ha Joon and Kim Yeol are also cool. They don’t let liking the same woman come between them at all and are just as close as always.

Things end absolutely perfectly with this drama. Ha Joon’s dad is investigated and gets a restraining order issued against him, Soo A’s mom is investigated for corruption as well but she and Soo A become close and they learn to lean on each other in times of trouble. The Assistant Principal loses his principal position almost as soon as he gets it. Soo A started stealing Yeon Doo’s strawberry milk from Dong Jae maybe a possible love connection there. Yeon Doo’s mom and Kim Yeol’s dad resumed their relationship but Yeon Doo and Kim Yeol are still together too. Kim Yeol is trying to figure out how to get his family registration switched over to his mom’s side so that he and Yeon Doo won’t be related on paper.

And the cheer team is as close as ever. They spend all their time together be it in class or after. Essentially, they are the 13 best friends that any ever had. There could seriously not be a better ending for these characters that I grew to love.